We've copied this conversation from the increasingly-unwieldy "Suggest a Topic" section. It was prompted by our prospective neighbour michael, whose enthusiasm is very moving! Welcome to Brockley...

I am about to move into area and am very excited about it. Could the good people of Brockley suggest their three favourite things to do in Brockley. Many thanks Michael (soon to be Brockley resident)20 November 2008 10:51 Tyrwhitt Michael said...Hooray At last someone to break the BNP monopoly and another Michael at that. Here we go with the first nominations1. Walk across Hilly Fields2. Drink and Quiz at the Wickham3. Shop in Deptford MarketLast one strictly not in Brockley but within walking distance of my end. Next nominations...........

Bea said...Here's mine ...- the leafy streets and houses of the Conservation area (incl. walks across Hilly Fields)- shopping in places like Degustantion and Shop on the Hill- coffee / meals with friends in Toads Mouth Too or Aquarium and drinks at Jam CircusNext ...20 November 2008 11:38 Lady said...1. Sit down on Hilly Fields, maybe fall asleep if it's sunny enough(also remember the first Sat of every month for your baked goods (farmer's market)2. Browse and treat yourself at Mr. Lawrence's wine emporium3. Eat at Mezze Mangal or Longtimeand generally, 4. Try not to waste hours of your life on this blog20 November 2008 11:40

lb said...Mine are exactly the same as Lady's, although I tend to avoid the baked goods stall at the farmers market after witnessing a really unseemly, yet incredibly middle-class, bit of indignation over some quiche in the queue in front of me.Meze Mangal is well worth a look, as is Mr Lawrence.20 November 2008 11:44

Tressilliana said...1. Hill walking in SE4: you could do a good circular walk starting from Hilly Fields, going down to Blythe Hill Fields, possibly via the cemetery for part of the way, and then over to One Tree Hill and (for the truly energetic) home via Telegraph Hill. Lots of good views along the way and the autumn colours are great at the moment.2. Eating out: good recommendations above. For fish and chips (take-away only) try Fishy Business at the Brockley Road end of Harefield Road. Le Querce just south of Crofton Park is great. So is the Babur which is nearly opposite.3. Brockley Jack film club. We've only been once so far but plan to go again soon.20 November 2008 11:54

brockleybiker said...Experiance the crazy joy of Brockley X roundabout with its swiftly changing priorities.Another vote for Lawrences and Hilly Fields.20 November 2008 11:57

fabhat said...1.Hilly Fields in every season: favorites including the bench at the top with the wonderful views of south london, and the vicar's hill side secret trapeze bar suspended in a tree.2. Meze Mangal - friendly people and tasty food to eat in or takeaway.3. Walking along the wide, tree-lined streets and imagining the previous lives of the ginormous houses, on the way to a nice local drink at the toads mouth, or moonbow jakes...20 November 2008 12:02

fabhat said...On Le Querce - I went there last night and it was all very nice - lovely friendly service and very tasty and generous food - but the most suprising thing is the ice cream/sorbet menu. Flavours included: Garlic, aubergine, saffron, parsley or rocket, melon and cinnamon, banana ginger and cardomon and what was agreed to be the winner, strawberry and balsamic vinegar sorbet. Amazing!20 November 2008 12:05 Tressillian James said...1) Hilly Fields and the streets around2) the second hand clothes shop on Malpas way - real vintage stuff in good nick - and the lady was nice last time I was there.3)this isn't strictly Brcokley but it's what I love about it - the convenience of being near Greenwich, Blackheath, Lewisham, Deptford (inlcuding Wellbeloved's butchers) and only 10 mins or so from London Bridge. So after work or out in the city I can be back home quicker than friends schlepping it on the Northern line20 November 2008 12:14

Walk over hillyfield on a nice day, get Fish n Chips on a Friday from Fishy Business, Go to The Shop On The Hill for fresh food at the weeked, get your wine from Mr Lawrences "The Booze Doctor!" (crofton park) or Degustation (Brockley), down the Wickham for some traditional boozing and quizzing weekdays - or for a more trendy evening Jam Circus or Moobow Jakes and have breakfast/brunch at the Toads Mouth or Aquarium...

The sun settling west over Brockley, the north-south travelling wind across its gardens, Ashby Mews in summer (for a nice chat with neighbours and the workers there), Mr Lawrence wine merchants, and Davy's in Greenwich, snow on Hilly Fields, and the sound of silence over the same. Except for the wind that is. Oh, and the endless chatter of Brockley Central.

minor point, but the farmers' market on Hilly Fields is generally on the 2nd Saturday of the month, not the 1st (except this December when it will form part of the Ladywell Christmas market outside Ladywell Station, courtesy of Ladywell Village Improvement Group - yay!)

But that's still the second Saturday - it's just moving location to tie in with the Christmas Market.And - always - the same people (or most of them) are in Telegraph Hill Lower Park on the third Saturday, so if you are unavoidably away when they are in Hilly Fields you can catch up and get your apple juice, president's loaf, venison, celeriac or whatever by just coming over to this side of the tracks - plenty of parking in the surrounding roads if you are being lazy or plan to buy too much to carry home on foot.

brockley and ladywell cemetery - lush, overgrown, and just beautiful, hillyfields esp on brisk cold winter mornings, degustation - wine and pate, moonbow Jakes - coffee and cake and the fact that you can sit there all day ... if you've miraculously got nothing to do. Babur - amazing indian food. And the beautiful wide, tree lined roads of the brockley conservation area.

Notice a lot of people are mentioning 'trees', 'treelined' and 'green'. Would seem that street trees generally give a feeling of contentment in the area - so maybe this is what should happen to the Localities Fund (I think that's what it's called). We should pick a street that currently does not have trees and make it green.

BTW - and I mentioned this in Suggest a topic - if you have a patch of street that is missing a tree (ie. it has been chopped down and not replaced) the council's tree department are currently undertaking a survey in our area of such stuff - get in contact..

Headhunter - check out my post on suggest a topic (perhaps one page back from the current page) - I've linked into the Sue Luxton blog in that post that describes what is going on and who is carrying it out.

Also could give you some other tips..we need to swap mail addresses/numbers

Does the Pope poo in the woods.... Err, not to my knowledge. In that sort of analogy aren't you supposed to say something like "Do monkies poo in the jungle" or some such like. I think the infamous Duke's weed has screwed your mind my man (or woman)... So is Dukes like the new Green Leaf?

christ what a literalist approach folk here seem to have, no room for aknowledgement of subtelties & ironies of language plays & puns, just a hard nosed literalist interpretation of anything that's said

Now we're getting into the realms of solipsism (and possibly ontology) along the lines of "If a tree falls down in a wood, and there's nobody around to hear it, does it make a sound? Which can possibly be reduced to "does the light in the fridge go off when you shut the door?"